1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand tools, and more specifically to a combination device which is particularly useful in the field of picture framing. The present combination tool includes a hammer, pry bar and cutting or chisel blade, awl, and puller for removing staples, hanger brackets, etc., in a single device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fields of picture framing and light cabinetry require many different operations, from the basic cutting of the wood and materials to the final finishing of the assembled frame or other device. Just the assembly of a picture frame requires several operations and a corresponding number of tools, for fastening the frame sections together, securing the glass or other protective cover within the frame, installing a protective backing sheet over the back of the picture or other article displayed within the frame, and installing one or more hangers on the frame. The tools generally required are a hammer, awl for starting screw and nail holes, and perhaps screwdrivers of various types where screws are used to assemble the frame and attach the hanger or hangers.
Quality picture frames are relatively costly and involve a fair amount of skilled hand work in their manufacture and assembly. The frame sections themselves are generally precisely cut in order to produce a precision fit, and are generally not components which are tossed casually aside when the article displayed in the frame is no longer desired. Accordingly, many picture frame components, particularly in the case of more costly hand made frames, are recycled by removing the backing, glass, various hangers, etc. This generally requires a small pry bar for removing staples, glazing points, and hangers, as well as a cutting blade for removing the old backing from the frame.
The present combination tool responds to these needs by providing nearly all of the required tools in a single, easily used device. The present combination tool includes a light tack hammer, awl for starting nail and screw holes, and a small pry bar with a sharpened chisel cutting edge for removing backing, staples, etc. The present tool also includes a pair of flexible jaws for gripping and removing various articles (staples, etc.) from the frame. Use of the present combination tool greatly reduces or obviates any requirement for additional tools for assembly or disassembly of a picture frame, and the present tool may also be applied to other light cabinetry work as well.
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,748,673 issued on Feb. 25, 1930 to Thomas H. Hurst, titled "Combination Pliers And Tool," describes a tool comprising a pair of pliers with an additional spreader bar in the distal handle portion thereof. The spreader bar spreads the handle portions, and thus their attached jaw portions, slightly. Various sockets are provided for fitting over the ends of the jaws, with the spreading of the jaws by the handle spreader bar jamming the jaws against the inside of a socket to hold it in place on the jaws. This enables the Hurst device to be used as a screwdriver, hammer, etc., depending upon the configuration of the removable cap being used. The present combination tool invention does not have any removable components, with the hammer portion being permanently affixed to the remainder of the tool body. Moreover, Hurst does not provide an awl or pry bar, as provided by the present tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,098 issued on Feb. 12, 1952 to Howard R. Elliott, titled "General Utility Gripping Tool," describes a finger extension tool, wherein a pair of spring loaded fingers is extendible from a sleeve. The fingers are normally biased toward a retracted state, with compression of the extender at the handle end extending the fingers to grip or retrieve a part. Release of the compression results in the fingers automatically retracting to grip the part. The present invention includes a pair of small retractile gripping jaws, but they operate on a completely different lever principle, rather than using the linear actuation of the Elliott device. Moreover, the Elliott device does not include any of the other elements of the present combination tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,698 issued on Nov. 15, 1983 to Harry Epstein, titled "Automobile Fuse Puller And Combination Circuit Tester," describes an electrical continuity checker with a probe on one end and a fuse puller on the opposite end. The fuse puller comprises a pair of jaws which grip each side of a blade type fuse to withdraw it from its receptacle. However, the jaws are actuated by a principle more closely related to that of the gripping tool of the Elliott '098 U.S. Patent, discussed above, than to the principle of operation of the grippers of the present combination tool. Moreover, while the Epstein device comprises a combination tool, it does not include any mechanical tool configurations (e.g., hammer, awl, pry bar, etc., as provided in the present tool) other than the fuse puller jaws noted above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,148 issued on Jul. 1, 1986 to Dori-Jayne Kennedy, titled "Tool For Removing Frame Clips," describes a device having an angled shank extending from a handle. The distal end of the shank has an asymmetrical blade extending therefrom, with the opposite lateral extensions of the blade having different configurations for engaging differently configured ends of spring clips which are installed between the rearward wall of a channel type picture frame, and the picture or backing held within the frame. Kennedy does not provide any other tool elements or functions for her frame clip tool, whereas the present combination tool includes gripper, pry bar, cutting blade, awl, and hammer elements in a single tool device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,059 issued on May 3, 1988 to Yung-Hsiang Lee et al., titled "Reorganizable Tool For Various Purposes," describes a combination device having a series of removable components. A hammer head is stored between the handles of a pair of pliers, with the head attaching to the plier jaws by means of an intermediate component which holds the jaws together for the insertion of a screw longitudinally therebetween to hold the hammer head in place. The hammer head includes a knife blade and screwdriver blades therein, and one of the handles of the pliers contains a removable saw blade therein. However, Lee et al. do not provide an awl or pry bar with their combination tool, as provided by the present combination tool invention. Moreover, the Lee et al. tool must be disassembled for converting from one tool or function to another, whereas the present tool does not include any removable parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,122 issued on Jul. 7, 1992 to Benny W. Sobotka, titled "Combination Wedge Puller And Sawtooth Hanger-Bracket Removal Tool," describes an earlier tool invented by the present inventor. The earlier combination tool lacks several features of the present tool and is not so convenient to use as the present combination tool. In the earlier tool, the pry bar and distal blade fixedly extend from one side of the main body, and cannot be folded for user safety and to protect the blade. Also, no awl is provided, either fixed or folding, and no hammer is provided with the earlier developed combination tool. The present tool responds to each of these deficiencies in the earlier tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,354 issued on Dec. 8, 1998 to Joseph F. Long et al., titled "Multipurpose House And Shop Tool," describes a combination tool somewhat resembling a pipe wrench with rectilinearly movable lower jaw. The Long et al. tool has a handle or shank to which a fixed upper jaw and the movable lower jaw are attached. The fixed upper jaw has a blunt end for use as a hammer. The opposite end of the handle includes means for holding one of a series of removable screwdriver bits therein. However, the Long et al. tool does not include an awl or pry bar foldably extending therefrom, nor does it include any form of small gripping device, as provided in the present combination tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,786 issued on Feb. 16, 1999 to George N. Papadopoulos, titled "Utility Tool," describes a tool having various elements most useful to a painter or in similar work. The tool includes a scraping blade with various shapes and configurations at one end of a handle, with the opposite end of the handle having both standard and Phillips screwdriver blades foldably mounted therein Papadopoulos states that the end of the handle equipped with the screwdriver blades may be used as a hammer, but no leverage is provided, as the hammer head is a part of the handle shank where the tool is gripped. Also, no awl or pry bar is provided by Papadopoulos in his tool, nor is any gripping means provided, all of which are a part of the present combination tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,185 issued on Apr. 13, 1999 to Joseph Okrepkie et al., titled "Multipurpose Electricians Hand Tool," describes a combination wire cutter, stripper, and crimping tool comprising a pair of handles pivotally secured together. The head of one of the handles includes a set of removable screwdriver blades, while the other handle head includes a hammer head extending therefrom. The removability of various components, i.e., the screwdriver blades, and the lack of any form of extendible cutting blade and awl for starting holes, results in a tool which differs considerably from the present combination tool.
U.S. Pat. No. D-399,405 issued on Oct. 13, 1998 to Anthony G. Savoia, titled "Combination Tool," illustrates a generally rectangular object apparently having a corkscrew, knife blade, and bottle opener foldably extendible from the sides thereof. No portion of the Savoia design appears to provide any form of gripping means for pulling staples and the like, or hammer means, as provided by the present combination tool.
British Patent Publication No. 2,227,967 published on Aug. 15, 1990 to Acearch Limited, titled "Fastener Applying Device," describes a board with a set of rectilinear slides secured thereto, with a hammer block slidably secured to one of the slides A picture frame is placed on the board and a hanger positioned on the frame. The hammer block is positioned over the hanger and struck with a hammer to fasten the hanger to the frame. The hammer used is not a part of the Acearch tool and the Acearch tool is not a combination tool with additional functions, as is the present tool.
Finally, French Patent Publication No. 2,694,482 published on Feb. 11, 1994 to Gilles Deramecourt et al. describes (according to the English abstract) a device particularly suited as a utensil for pipe smokers, including a small penknife, nail file, hammer, spoon, and awl. The hammer appears to be more of a tamping device, rather than a device capable of driving small nails, brads, etc., as provided by the present combination tool. Moreover, the hammer or tamper is pivotally secured to the body of the device, and no means of gripping or prying of staples and the like from an object is provided by the device of the French Patent Publication, as provided by the present combination tool.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.